Yes. View the MPCA map from the presentation (HTML).

Note: Technically, the splash screen covering the application for the duration of the demo was a "mistake." While the splash passed an accessibility check and didn’t impede Lolly, Jason made the choice not to interrupt her for two reasons:

1. It didn't affect her experience.
2. Jason hoped it would force the audience to listen more closely. He didn't want to intervene unless she got stuck or there was something important to elaborate on.

The recording will also include a link to the map, so visual viewers can follow along while watching.

Jason: The splash content should be read by a screen reader, but it could be skipped by the user. It all depends on how they are using the screen reader tools to browse the site.

I think you are correct, the content we sometimes put into a splash screen could serve us better in the introductory paragraph of the web site or web application.

Floating popup content or docked popup content should work the same. You’ll want to test the browser focus. If the focus shifts from the map to the popup, it should be read. When closing the popup, the focus should shift back to the map.

Jason: I took the approach of having a section in the main content body where search results would be rendered. On map click or on search bar execution, I shifted browser focus over to that section (basically, a docked popup). I think the shifting browser focus was confusing. I want to do some testing with aria-live regions to see if that would work better. This can be tricky as multiple aria-live regions can conflict with each other.

Jason: The State of Minnesota takes a wide range of approaches to creating web maps. 

• MPCA uses Esri's ArcGIS Online web apps (Instant Apps, Experience Builder, Story Maps, and the deprecated Web App Builder). 
• Esri's ArcGIS Maps SDK for JavaScript is used within different web frameworks like Angular. 
  • It is also used with Vanilla JavaScript and other JavaScript libraries, like Bootstrap, to create web applications. 
• Leaflet is also used to create our web maps. 

Each development team has their own set of skills, resources, and standards.

Jason: Esri has done an incredible job of producing a JS library that incorporates the greatest amount of accessibility features for the widest variety of map applications. For example, their legend widget includes alt text and labels for each graphic based on the layer's name. This duplicates the label text, once for the graphic and again on the layer name. However, the layer's name is the only data available to the legend widget. Also, if the layer name is too short or only contains numbers, the screen reader will consider it an "unlabeled graphic."

Jason: Our production web applications are required to pass accessibility testing. When our work fails to pass testing AND we are unable to fix the issue due to resource constraints, we document the issue and its effect on accessibility in an accessibility report. (We don't always have the resources to rewrite JS libraries or replace the failing features with our own vanilla JS.)

It's possible that an accessibility issue will delay the release of a production product until it can be fixed or an alternative can be built. Our goal is to fix all issues in addition to providing an alternative pathway.

Note from the Office of Accessibility: We recommend that State employees test with JAWS and NVDA, as these are the two most commonly used screen readers. NVDA is free, and JAWS requires a fee. (JAWS is available to State of Minnesota employees through an enterprise license). We also note to state employees that required accessibility testing training must be completed before using these tools.

Lolly: I recommend using both JAWS and NVDA. If you are working on mobile apps, then I recommend VoiceOver for the iPhone and Talkback for Android.

Jason: The MPCA has ExB templates that address many of the common accessibility issues that arise when building web apps. Most of what can be fixed comes down to creating a proper site structure, content order, and using the accessibility features that exist. The names and alt text you write are very important, as is the text content you provide in addition to the maps.

Feel free to use the MPCA ExB templates:

• MPCA Simple Map template
• MPCA simple map template - sidebar widgets
• MPCA scrolling sections template

These templates are not perfect but it's a place to start. Esri is always releasing new versions of their ExB framework that incorporate additional accessibility features.

Note from the asker: We use ArcGIS Experience builder quite a bit in our organization, as an example.

Please see these additional resources.

• OoA article: Building accessible maps with Esri's Experience Builder
• Esri's Introduction to ArcGIS Experience Builder Accessibility web page
• Esri's Accessibility Conformance Report for ArcGIS Experience Builder (PDF)

Note from the asker: Our organization has been trying to work on accessibility, but Esri's dynamic maps are not selected when you use prebuilt keyboard shortcuts. Is there a way to create that keyboard shortcut without a knowledge of JavaScript? We don't have the manpower to learn JavaScript right now, but we want our content to be available to people.

Jason: Building the MPCA's "keyboard access to map clicks" tool will require writing JavaScript and hosting a custom application on a public web server. I don't know of an equivalent Experience Builder widget.

Jason: I would describe the inclusion of a table as an additional, useful element. Both the map and the accompanying table need to meet WCAG 2.1 guidelines. We have good examples and criteria for creating accessible tables. An "accessible web map" is a little less well defined. What does it mean to for a map to "serve the equivalent purpose"? How do we know that we’ve accomplished this?

There is some very interesting research happening in this area. View Cornell University" "Systematically Evaluating Equivalent Purpose for Digital Maps" arxiv, May 2026 B. Biggs, et. al.

Jason: We have taken the approach of making the map a supporting character to our web applications. We use maps for searching within a bounding box ("search this area" button), displaying search results, and providing a map image that adds detail to the main topic of the section of content. There are use cases where the map plays a leading role in the web application.

Note from asker: I am an Android Developer and the maps in our app are currently not accessible by screen readers, and we'd love to improve this.

Jason: I have not tested mobile-native applications. Our web applications are responsive and have been tested on Chrome, Firefox, and Edge browsers. I do not have the hardware or software to test our web applications on mobile devices. (We do use device simulation software for testing.)

Lolly: I do not find maps on mobile apps very helpful. It could be the small screen or just that I haven't understood what the developer is trying to communicate. They are confusing to me. Maps in general are not easy to understand conceptually, so having a larger space to make sense of the data sometimes helps as does getting good spatial location clues. I prefer a 3-D experience.

Jason: This is a great question. With maps, we hide a lot of content behind a mouse click. To make these mouse clicks work for keyboard users, we created a hot key that will simulate a mouse click at the very center of the map. This is a solution that could work for keyboard users but it has no auditory cues for our blind or low vision users.

Jason: The Esri/a11y-map repo is an older example from Esri. This is the example we started with: A prototype app to test adding keyboard interaction from Esri's a11y-map Github.

I don't have a modular example of this tool to share but we do have several examples in production.

We've used different hot keys as we’ve refined the tool ("S" for search, "I" for information). I think that using the space bar and/or enter key are what we're settling on. These keys are commonly used to execute a task (select a button, toggle a selection box, etc.):

• The Environmental Review Projects Interactive Map
• Cumulative impacts mapping and analysis platform (draft 2026)
• Industrial Stormwater Special and Impaired Waters Search Tool

Jason: I'm not sure, but Esri is publishing new blog posts on accessibility all the time! Search "accessible" in the Esri blog.

They are committed to giving us the tools we need to create accessible content. For example, the MPCA's keyboard access to map clicks tool is based off an Esri repo).

It's our responsibility to communicate clearly and to make our communications accessible.

Jessica McCall (from Esri) says: There was a short demo that was featured at the Esri Developer and Technology Summit in March. They showed the demo in the second half of that presentation - but you may want to watch the whole thing because Kitty and Kelly cover a lot of great topics: Building Accessible Web Apps with ArcGIS Maps SDK for JavaScript and Calcite - Esri Videos: GIS, Events, ArcGIS Products & Industries.

Jason: I feel like navigating feature-to-feature would be similar to using a list or a table. Google Maps' solution is to create a list of Points of Interests (POIs) from the map that the user then reads. (Open Google Maps then shift-tab to use this feature.

Jason: Yep. Our solution was based off an Esri blog post on that topic: "Build Accessibility into your Web Maps with ArcGIS Maps SDK for JavaScript."

Lolly: If it's need-to-know, I usually approach it using headings, a list of links, sometimes regions, and occasionally tabs. If it's familiar, it's easier to go right where I want to go using the "skip to" link, then headings, and possibly the list of links.

Jason: When a map is included in a document it can be treated as an image. See the MNIT resources on static digital maps.

Note from MNIT Office of Accessibility: The State of MN Maps Community of Practice divided the map creation process into two broad categories: static maps and interactive web maps. Static maps are commonly PDFs containing map content. Creators may start the design and development from a number of source platforms, including Word, InDesign, and other content creation tools. Interactive web map creators tend to use specialized cartography platforms such as those from Esri, Google Maps, Carto, and Mapbox.

Check out the State of MN accessible maps pages for more on these categories as well as map design.

All screen readers require descriptive content presented in a logical order. It’s up to the author to write the content and communicate clearly. An Esri Story Map is just a website, it’s only as useful as its content.

Lolly: As I mentioned to Brandon, the national parks maps would be interesting because there are so many national landmarks in the parks.

Lolly: Screen readers do react differently on some pages because of the way they are developed. Generally though, we say to test the data, not the technology. That's also why we recommend testing with more than one screen reader. Most screen reader users these days use at least two screen readers and some use more.

Lolly: No, I have that feature muted. It would add confusion because I'm trying to listen to what the screen reader is telling me about the data I'm exploring.